I’ve been on this stretch of road twice. Once while on a border run with Werewolf last year and this year on a exploratory drive into the countryside with a friend in search of adventure and a tasty lunch on the banks of the Mekong River.

You are in the middle of nowhere, on a road with very little traffic, and all of sudden every 50 meters is a house with a full selection of hand crafted gongs on display.

Amazing Thailand!

It’s funny sometimes how much of the cheap handicrafts sold to Thailand tourists is actually made in China and Vietnam.

These gongs, however, are actually made in Thailand.

How do I know?

I walked to the back of the house and took a look at the workshop/factory.

This family had a couple of arc welders, a lathe, an electric grinder and a pile of scrap steel which they use to fabricate the gongs.

It’s actually a pretty cool workshop that could be used to fabricate a lot of stuff and a sizable investment in supplies and equipment given the neighborhood.

And here is the guy actually at work and some of gongs awaiting completion.

I guess Henry Ford’s idea of the moving assembly line and other modern day industrial innovations haven’t penetrated this far into the jungle.

There were waaaay to many of gongs lying around to be sold to passing motorists, so my guess is that these are sold all over Thailand in gift shops at marked up prices.

Besides the gong’s there were a selection of wind chimes and bells for sale.

Each gong comes with a cool hand crafted mallet whose handle is turned out on the lathe.

My friend bought this size gong.

The original asking price, including mallet, was 2800 THB which was bargained down to 1800 THB.

It produces a rich deep satisfying sound when banged and is a ton of fun to play with — sort of like a women.

Bang it once and you just want to keep on banging it over and over again — sort of like some women.

My friend is married and I suggested he hang it over his bed and hit the gong:

1) When he wants to bang his wife to let her know.

2) When he is done banging his wife and achieved nirvana.

3) When his wife has achieved nirvanna.

4) When they achieve nirvanna together.

5) To annoy his neighbors.

None of these suggestions was met with much enthusiasm or laughter.

Something about getting married must sap people’s sense of humor.

555

BigBabyKenny

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Comments (8)

Well you’re dirty and sweet, clad in black
Don’t look back and I love you
You’re dirty and sweet, oh yeah
Well you’re slim and you’re weak
You’ve got the teeth of a hydra upon you
You’re dirty sweet and you’re my girl.

Chorus:
Get it on, bang the gong , get it on
Get it on, bang the gong, get it on

You’re built like a car, you’ve got a hub cap diamond star halo
You’re built like a car, oh yeah
You’re an untamed youth that’s the truth with your cloak full of eagles
You’re dirty sweet and you’re my girl.

You’re dirty and sweet, clad in black, don’t look back
And I love you
You’re dirty and sweet, oh yeah
You dance when you walk so let’s dance, take a chance, understand me
You’re dirty sweet and you’re my girl.

what happened to part 8?
We must have both been in Ubon at about the same time, I was there for a couple of weeks in early july. We drove through this tambon on a family outing to Khong Jiam, but did n’t stop.

The area of Ubon Ratchatani you were probably in or near is Peeboon Mangsahan. The reason so many gongs are made and sold there is because they are replicas of “THE” Gong, which is about 9 feet across and is the main tourist attraction in the area. It hangs in a small gazebo-like structure in the middle of an empty field, rather lonely-looking on the day that I saw it.

I visited THE GONG for the first (and only) time in 2005 when I spent 5 days visiting Ubon. The Thai girl who was showing me around showed me the kawng, and then asked me what the English word was. It took about 3 minutes of confused conversation (I spoke no Thai and she had very limited English) before she understood that the Thai word and English word were essentially the same.

“It produces a rich deep satisfying sound when banged and is a ton of fun to play with — sort of like a women.Bang it once and you just want to keep on banging it over and over again — sort of like some women.”

I don’t think having a sense of humor and not taking things too seriously has been classified as a mental disorder…….yet.

Although with the current trend of making up fancy names for more and more things and labeling them a mental disease so that psychiatrists can get paid by insurance companies, the government has to pay for treating them, and people can qualify for lifetime disability pensions for allegedly having them, I can imagine a day not too far in the future when SOHA (Sense of Humor Affliction) will be a recognized ailment.

Personally, I think NSOH (No Sense of Humor) is a more common disease in Expatland.

555

BigBabyKenny

P.S. My personal diagnosis is that you and I are both afflicted with SOHA not NSOH

This village reminds me of a village in my country of Panama where they make the Bongo. It is in the darian region of my country and is very far from the roads.

I think I would very much like to bang a gong. I bet a lot of people see this and they imagine banging the gong with Mr Daffy Ducks head, except it would not sound good as mr Daffy Duck is a vile and disgusting human being. Why must he be like that? Does his webpage have a fun and interesting story on it? No it is sad and hateful just like him.

But thank you for your story Mr. Kenny. It makes me forget how vile Mr Daffy Duck is.

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